Civilian Careers in Oceanography and Meteorology

Whether the job is harnessing the power of wind, solar, or waves, forecasting the weather, studying the effects of climate change, or managing our nation's vast oceanic resources, the demand for well trained and highly qualified oceanographers, meteorologists, and applied geoscientists has never been greater! The USNA Oceanography Department is one of a handful of universities in the United States with the resources and faculty to offer a comprehensive bachelor's degree in oceanography that focuses on physical oceanic and atmospheric processes. Therefore, our graduates are well suited for both the job market and graduate school after graduating.

Geoscientists, oceanographers, and meteorologists are in high demand because of the technical skills they possess and their ability to apply fundamentals to solve applied problems. This includes a background in analytical laboratory techniques, applied mathematics and statistics, autonomous vehicle operations, computer programming, and numerical modeling.

Federal Civil Service Careers in Oceanography and Meteorology

A B.S. in Oceanography at the U.S. Naval Academy satisfies the United States Government requirements to be federally employed as an GS-1360 oceanographer, GS-1310 physical scientist, or G3-1313 geoscientist.

Examples of federal agencies that hire oceanographers, physical scientists, geoscientists, and meteorologists include, but are not limited to, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), the National Weather Service (NWS), the National Ocean Service (NOS), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), among many others.

Other Fields

An Oceanography degree from the U.S. Naval Academy is also a unique qualification to enter any other field. This department provides skills in coding and critical analysis as well as hands-on problem solving. These skills are useful in any field. Former students from the Oceanography Department have gone on to become lawyers, architects, and engineers in addition to oceanographers and meteorologists.